(Warning:
this review contains spoilers for Avengers: Endgame.)
Spider-Man: Far From Home is the twenty-third film in the Marvel
Cinematic Universe and the eleventh such film in the past
three years! However it is the first MCU film to not have a Stan
Lee cameo, which I guess you could say is one of the few unique
things Far From Home has going for it!
Ok, ok, I'm being
slightly facetious. I've found that one's enjoyment of the new Tom
Holland Spider-Man films depends heavily on one's acceptance
that they're deliberately trying to be different from Spider-Man
media we've seen in the past. If you can make your peace with the
fact that the tone is lighter than air, the life lessons are less
poignant (i.e. barely there), the target audience is probably younger
than before, and the characters only vaguely resemble their comicbook
counterparts then you'll find the new Spidey stories easy to like.
This one follows Peter
Parker and his classmates a few months after all the people who died
in Avengers: Infinity War suddenly came back to life in
Endgame – this conveniently
includes most of the characters in the Spider-Man
movies. I've got to say the world is getting along pretty well
despite the trauma of having half of its population disappear and
then suddenly reappear five years later. Anyways, Peter is troubled
over the passing of his man-crush Tony Stark (AKA Iron Man), but
still goes along with his classmates on a tour of Europe where he
plans to take a break from superheroing and confess his feelings for
MJ. (When did he start crushing on her?) However he is forced to work
with SHIELD and Mysterio to battle the Elemental monsters, but not
everything is as it seems.
Honestly
though, the best way to sum up Far From Home's
plot is that it's a teen road-trip comedy – and a Disney Channel
one at that – featuring superheroes. It even plays the obligatory
“Vacation, all I ever wanted” song. It starts out rather standard
but gets better as it goes, especially after the “twist” happens.
As for the comedy, it's fast-paced, silly, and mostly OK. Some of the
jokes rely too much on predictable Disney-esque slapstick (and the
main character's awkwardness) but some jokes I found genuinely funny.
One could consider it a G-rated Deadpool
of sorts. There's even a little tongue-in-cheek humour to be found
such as when the badguys congratulate themselves by explaining their
plan... to themselves.
Like
I said earlier the film uses the characters differently from the
comics. Aunt May is more like wine aunt. MJ is more like Daria. Flash
Thompson is more like narcissism personified. Ned Leeds is more like
a whipped boyfriend. And Peter is more like Iron Lad, AKA Tony Jr.,
AKA Iron Fanboy. While some of these changes are fine (MJ), some
handicap the characters' development. Look no further than Peter
Parker himself. He's still a dweeb who has no commitment or
conviction in his superheroing, he still sucks up to Tony Stark even
beyond the grave, and he still makes a ton of dumb mistakes. First
and foremost, Peter really sucks at keeping his identity a secret
mostly because he keeps changing into his costume with the door wide
open and he – as Spider-Man – meets with friends and family
members in full view of the public. This guy's been in four movies so
far and he's hardly grown or changed one bit. At least they got
Quentin Beck, AKA Mysterio, right. Jake Gyllenhaal is believable as a
guy who is both a likeable mentor but also just a little bit crazy.
And when it comes to showing off great special effects, they couldn't
have picked a better character than Mysterio.
I'll
end this review by stating that the mid-credits scene commits a
cardinal sin in that it sets up a film that is so much better
than the one the audience has just watched. This scene really puts
Far From Home into
perspective: it's truly a momentary and inconsequential episode that
arguably didn't need to be a major motion picture. Its breezy tone,
lower stakes, and lack of lasting change or consequence would've made
it more suitable as a 3-part episode of some TV show or something. Don't get
me wrong; I liked this movie but it is by no means essential viewing.
P.S.
– The end credits scene sucks. Don't bother.
Grade:
